Heat and sound insulation



May 26, 1936. R. ERICSON HEAT AND SOUND INSULATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed. April 5, 1935 00 wwo qww a May 26, 1936. R. ERICSON HEAT AND SOUND INSULATION Filed April 3, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inn) 612137? Menard/yam Patented May 26, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,041,910 HEAT AND SOUND INSULATION Richard Ericson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Universal Insulation Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application April 3, 1935, Serial No. 14,399

7 Claims.

One of the leading aims and prime objects of the present invention is the provision of a simple, economical, and efiective acoustical and thermal insulation construction.

Heretofore, the usual method of insulating av building acoustically has been to attach soundabsorptive material, as in the form of felts or tiles, to the walls and ceilings, but such method has been found to be inconvenient and relatively expensive, since the acoustical insulating elements or structures must be manufactured at a central point and then transported in finished form to the building to be insulated.

The expense of installing such relatively-small individual units or sections of sound-insulating material is considerable and it adds substantially to the ultimate cost of the sound insulation.

This invention, as exemplified in one desirable embodiment, contemplates the employment of ordinary, coarse-mesh wire-screen as a confining barrier to maintain in place loose granular material having comparatively-high acoustical and heat insulating values.

One possible objection to such a procedure is the tendency of the granular material to settle slightly when in place in walls for a long period of time, the main drawback of such settling being the change in appearance of the insulating installation rather than due to any important decrease in actual insulating efiiciency, and this I objection is overcome by that phase of the new invention which involves spraying the granular insulating material with a binding agent, such as latex, after it is in place behind and properly confined by the wire-screen barrier.

Other binding agents, such as sodium silicate, gums, resins, (synthetic and natural), casein, starch pro-ducts, and many other binders may be employed, since the principal purpose of such media is to hold the particles of insulating material in fixed relation to one another as well as to the screen which supports them.

The binder also acts to prevent all objectionable dusting, such as might result from the use of certain known types of granular, acoustical, insulating substances.

The mesh of the screen employed in carrying out the invention may be varied over a wide range of sizes, the most satisfactory for obtaining the full benefits of the invention being those which permit the liquid binder to be sprayed through the screen onto the particles of insulating material without subsequent bridging over and consequent closure of any substantial number of the openings in the screen by the binding agent after it becomes dry.

It is possible to modify the viscosity, fluidity, and. surface tension of the binding liquid in order to utilize the wide range of screen meshes which 5 may be desirable for various kinds. of insulation installations. v

The stated method of obtaining a highly-soundabsorbing surface for walls will also supply resistance to sound transmission through the walls 10 because of the properties or characteristics of the enclosed porous material. 7

It is one of the purposes of this disclosure to cover this phase of acoustical correction, that is, sound insulation between rooms, although as 15 much attention will not be devoted to this factor in this specification as to the matter ofsound absorption for the elimination of reverberation.

It will be obvious to those skilled in this art that the construction described for the treatment of sound absorption will also be of value in decreasing sound transmission.

To enable those acquainted with this art to understand the invention fully both from structural and functional standpoints, in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciflcation, present preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated.

In these drawings:-

Figure 1 shows fragmentarily the application of the new principle to the walls of a sound-recording studio; 1

Figure 2 illustrates a pre-formed section for the wall or ceiling incorporating the present invention; and

Figure 3 presents the sound treatment means as applicable to a ceiling.

Referring to Figure 1, I0 is a wall composed of a number of superposed gypsum partition tile laid on top of another in the usual manner.

Furring-strips II are attached to such tile-wall a suitable distance apart and an ordinary lfi-mesh bronze fly-screen fabric I2 is attached to the front faces of the furring-strips in any approved manner.

Sound trapping or absorbing material l3, desirably plus 8-mesh expanded vermiculite, is, placed behind such screen after erection or it may be installed during erection.

Panelling strips l4 may be applied over the furring-strips to improve the appearance of the wall if so desired.

The wall as thus built up can now be sprayed with, for example, a prevulcanized rubber-latex solution, by a rather strong pressure, such treatment affording good penetration of the solution and, while preventing dusting, it will also loosely bond the particles together to prevent settling, and Will additionally lightly attach the particles to the screen, it being understood that such spray is forced through the screen into the loose material behind it.

The surface of the screen may be suitably decorated to improve its appearance, and, if desired, a porous fabric l5 may be hung in front o'fthe screen to conceal it.

It is also possible to place grille-work of ornamental iron, or decorative perforated plates over the screen to alter or better the appearance of the same.

These additional means would necessarily increase the cost of the construction somewhat and might possibly diminish the efiiciency slightly.

By this improved method the sound-absorbing structure is an integral part of the wall or ceiling construction and it can be built up on the job instead of requiring the forming of the product in some factory and then incurring the expense of attaching it to the surface, such as in the case of acoustical tile or felt.

However, it is not to be considered beyond the scope of this invention to pre-form a section of the wall or ceiling elsewhere, to fill the section with graded, expanded vermiculite or its equiva-.

lent, and to spray the section with a bonding material such as the latex solution mentioned, a pre-formed section of this nature being shown in Figure 2 wherein a rectangular section of a metal band 2| properly shaped to the dimension of the tile or sound-absorbing wall or ceiling section supports a l6-mesh bronze wire-screen 22 which encloses the sound-absorbing material 23 here illustrated as composed of expanded vermiculite ore, theback of this section being covered by a. heavy paper 24, or its equivalent, which extends upward around the metal band for proper bonding and which may be employed for attaching the tile to the wall or ceiling by adhesion with a suitable cementitious material.

The surface and the contained material may then be sprayed with the prevulcanized latex or its substitute in the manner indicated above.

An example of the application of the new principle of sound treatment to a ceiling is presented in Figure 3, whereinsuitably-supported ceilingjoists 3|, 3| have a bronze l6-mesh woven-wire fly-screen or any other suitable reticulated mate- Panelling elements 34 are placed over the joists to improve the appearance and the surface can then be sprayed with the bonding material for the purpose hereinbefore indicated.

While in these' examples the employment of expanded vermiculite as a loose fill insulating material especially effective for use in connection with this invention has been mentioned, it is to be understood that many other types of insulating media can be satisfactorily utilized and that the invention contemplates the employment of any type of sound insulating agent which can be poured or blown into spaces between the wire screenand the wall or ceiling.

The above-described method is only one of sev eral ways in which this general principle can be successfully employed and it is to be understood,

that the scope of the invention is not necessarily limited to the details presented.

Such method of sound treatment has especial application for use in sound-recording studios, broadcasting stations, sound motion-picture theatres, factories, offices, etc., or in any place Where efficient, low-price, sound-absorbing material is required.

Another valuable feature of the invention is i that heat insulation is at the same time obtained,

and, in 'a number of cases, this may be of substantial importance.

It is possible by employing this invention to erect a completely fire-proof structure and embody this principle of acoustical correction.

In performing or executing the indicated procedure to provide the structures illustrated and described, in some instances, it may be desirable and feasible to cement or bind together only those particles of the confined mass which are nearest to the wire-screen, leaving the other particles free and unbonded.

While certain specific embodiments of the invention have been described involving spraying as a conventional means of applying a liquid adhesive to the mass of granular particles of insulating material held within the foraminous restraining walls, it is to be understood that there are other efficient methods of applying the adhesive material, some of which for certain purposes may be superior to spraying.

For example, when it is desired to utilize the invention for the preparation of an insulating tile, a form of suitable size and shape, as for instance, 18 by 14 by 3" may be prepared from wire screen of the desired type, this form being filled with the granular insulation and the closure being completed with the wire screen. This structure may then be immersed in a suitable liquid adhesive, such as asphalt rendered fluid by heat or solvent, from which it may then be removed and the excess of liquid adhesive allowed to drain 011.

By following this procedure a cheap and efficient type of tile may be prepared which is especially useful when thermal rather than acoustical insulation is desired. In this, it is, therefore, not necessary to select an adhesive or procedure which will not result in bridging across the open- 0 ings in the foraminous restraining walls.

I claim:

1. The process of forming an insulating structure consisting in confining loose granular insulating material in place by a reticulated mem-- ber and then treating said restrained material with a liquid bonding agent capable when dry of holding the particles of insulating material in substantially fixed relation to one another.

2. The process presented in claim 1 in which said treating is accomplished through said reticulated member.

3. The process presented in claim 1 in which the binding agent employedis incapable when dry of closing a material portion of the openings of the reticulated member.

4. The process of forming an insulating struc ture consisting in confining loose insulating particles in place by a reticulated member and then spraying that portion of said restrained particles of f mine an insulating atructure consisting in confining loose insulating oarticles in place by a reticulated member and ;hen treating that portion of said restrained par- ;iclcs nearest the reticulated member with a liquid bonding agent capable when dry of holding the treated particles of insulating material in substantially fixed relation to said member.

6. An insulating structure comprising in combination a reticulated member confining a porous mass of insulating particles in place and means cementing at least some of said particles together and adhering those particles in contact with said reticulated member to such member without closing a substantial number of holes of the latter,

'7. An insulating structure comprising in combination a reticulated member confining a porous mass of insulating particles in place and cementing means securing together only that portion of said particles nearest the reticulated member.

RICHARD ERICSON. 

